Comments

we still have no power in the Williston Highlands. Fortunately, my office in Gville has power and I was able to get a hot shower this morning. God it felt good. Also got my first cup of coffee in days this morning. Our house made it through the storm in good shape. So, I consider our family to have been very lucky. Hoping everyone faired at least as well as we did.

@crbngville
So glad to hear from you. So far, it looks like nobody has suffered loss of life, limb, or catastrophic loss of property. We haven't heard yet from orlbucsfan or Alphalop.

My family didn't even lose power!

we still have no power in the Williston Highlands. Fortunately, my office in Gville has power and I was able to get a hot shower this morning. God it felt good. Also got my first cup of coffee in days this morning. Our house made it through the storm in good shape. So, I consider our family to have been very lucky. Hoping everyone faired at least as well as we did.

up

12 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

@crbngville
Yeah, no kidding. I wouldn't like to see a Cat 4 slamming into either coast. Miami, in particular, has been very very lucky over the years.

Cuba took one on the chin for us. I'll be looking into sending a little money their way.

#1.1
we all got very lucky with Irma. This storm could have really steamrolled the entire state, and it didn't.

up

9 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

Tallahassee seemed spared - Irma passed east of them. My friends there have power already. My friend in Branford (S. of Live Oak) also has power again. Another buddy in G-ville still doesn't have power, and although there are trees down, none hit houses in her neighborhood.

So I'm glad there are good reports from you CSTMS, and most of my FL friends. Still haven't heard from a friend in Flagler Beach, but I bet that's because they still don't have power.

I had one tree down, but only the top blocked my drive and it was pretty easy to clear. We lost power for only 2 hours. Irma was very much weakened by the time she arrived in NE AL. Interestingly I got more rain than my Tallahassee friends (3").

Tallahassee seemed spared - Irma passed east of them. My friends there have power already. My friend in Branford (S. of Live Oak) also has power again. Another buddy in G-ville still doesn't have power, and although there are trees down, none hit houses in her neighborhood.

So I'm glad there are good reports from you CSTMS, and most of my FL friends. Still haven't heard from a friend in Flagler Beach, but I bet that's because they still don't have power.

I had one tree down, but only the top blocked my drive and it was pretty easy to clear. We lost power for only 2 hours. Irma was very much weakened by the time she arrived in NE AL. Interestingly I got more rain than my Tallahassee friends (3").

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

@Lookout
Oh, wait, you're not. I should have read a lot more carefully than that! You're in AL (the place you get to when the Panhandle ends, LOL).

Tallahassee seemed spared - Irma passed east of them. My friends there have power already. My friend in Branford (S. of Live Oak) also has power again. Another buddy in G-ville still doesn't have power, and although there are trees down, none hit houses in her neighborhood.

So I'm glad there are good reports from you CSTMS, and most of my FL friends. Still haven't heard from a friend in Flagler Beach, but I bet that's because they still don't have power.

I had one tree down, but only the top blocked my drive and it was pretty easy to clear. We lost power for only 2 hours. Irma was very much weakened by the time she arrived in NE AL. Interestingly I got more rain than my Tallahassee friends (3").

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

but in watching both the local and national
ge affiliated news not a single word in regard
to climate change or global warming, just once
in a 500 year flood in Texas and first ever cane
that swept through the whole state and in saving
the best(worst) for last the first time ever our
"exceptional" country got hit by 2 Cat4 canes in
same year.

My guess is the asshole Inhofe is holding up a
bucket of water on the Senate floor right around
now.

@ggersh
I guess the media's loyalty to Big Oil trumps (heh) their need to criticize Trump. For a while there, climate got a little more traction in the press because that was one more way to say OMG Trump!

But I guess we're back to business as usual, now.

but in watching both the local and national
ge affiliated news not a single word in regard
to climate change or global warming, just once
in a 500 year flood in Texas and first ever cane
that swept through the whole state and in saving
the best(worst) for last the first time ever our
"exceptional" country got hit by 2 Cat4 canes in
same year.

My guess is the asshole Inhofe is holding up a
bucket of water on the Senate floor right around
now.

up

14 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

The two who knew better yet decided money
was more important to themselves than mother
earth was clinton the first and barry the zero
them are the two who did more harm than good.
For if they had but us on the correct trajectory
of trying to save mother earth maybe just maybe
these once in a 500 year shit wouldn't be happening
on a regular basis.

Fuck em.

#3 I guess the media's loyalty to Big Oil trumps (heh) their need to criticize Trump. For a while there, climate got a little more traction in the press because that was one more way to say OMG Trump!

@ggersh
I so agree. I can't really express the horror I felt when, in 2012, Nancy Pelosi told us climate was a "dead issue."

Though really my horror started sooner, when it became clear that the climate bill that passed the House wouldn't even be considered in the Senate (though it was rife with horrible giveaways to the oil industry).

As for Obama, he behaved horrendously the last time Kerry tried to push a climate bill in the Senate. I dislike a lot of things about Chuck Grassley, but he has every right to hate Barack Obama--and it ain't because Obama's Black, either.

It's a stomach-turning story that I might tell someday, if I can find the article again. It was from 2010; we still had some actual journalism back then.

#3.1 and like dubya was never going to do
anything about helping others living on
mother earth.

The two who knew better yet decided money
was more important to themselves than mother
earth was clinton the first and barry the zero
them are the two who did more harm than good.
For if they had but us on the correct trajectory
of trying to save mother earth maybe just maybe
these once in a 500 year shit wouldn't be happening
on a regular basis.

Fuck em.

up

2 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

#3.1.1 I so agree. I can't really express the horror I felt when, in 2012, Nancy Pelosi told us climate was a "dead issue."

Though really my horror started sooner, when it became clear that the climate bill that passed the House wouldn't even be considered in the Senate (though it was rife with horrible giveaways to the oil industry).

As for Obama, he behaved horrendously the last time Kerry tried to push a climate bill in the Senate. I dislike a lot of things about Chuck Grassley, but he has every right to hate Barack Obama--and it ain't because Obama's Black, either.

It's a stomach-turning story that I might tell someday, if I can find the article again. It was from 2010; we still had some actual journalism back then.

@ggersh
As for the Repubs, of course I wouldn't expect them to say jack or shit about climate.

So weird to remember there used to be environmentalist Republicans. Right up till the early nineties.

but in watching both the local and national
ge affiliated news not a single word in regard
to climate change or global warming, just once
in a 500 year flood in Texas and first ever cane
that swept through the whole state and in saving
the best(worst) for last the first time ever our
"exceptional" country got hit by 2 Cat4 canes in
same year.

My guess is the asshole Inhofe is holding up a
bucket of water on the Senate floor right around
now.

up

11 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

in watching both the local and national ge affiliated news not a single word in regard to climate change or global warming, just once in a 500 year flood in Texas and first ever cane that swept through the whole state and in saving the best(worst) for last the first time ever our "exceptional" country got hit by 2 Cat4 canes in same year.

You really need to get yourself some BBC World News at the very least. BBC spoke repeatedly about the effects of global warming on the 'canes during Irma.

I'm also looking to get me a shortwave radio receiver. There's nothing like one to break yourself out of the USA MSM bubble!

but in watching both the local and national
ge affiliated news not a single word in regard
to climate change or global warming, just once
in a 500 year flood in Texas and first ever cane
that swept through the whole state and in saving
the best(worst) for last the first time ever our
"exceptional" country got hit by 2 Cat4 canes in
same year.

My guess is the asshole Inhofe is holding up a
bucket of water on the Senate floor right around
now.

up

5 users have voted.

—

"Some members of the government are now investigating opioid pain killers but they are investigating the wrong thing. Despair-masking drugs are not the problem. Despair is."
-- featheredsprite

Given hurricanes, tornado alley, western wildfires, it appears that Michigan is the safest place to be. Not crazy about the long winters, but I'd be even less crazy about floods, evacuations, and long power outages.

until the morning, and I see that yesterday he linked to some great info on the hurricanes, resulting toxic spillage (in TX), and global warming.

One is a link from Democracy Now that compares Cuba's preparation for hurricanes to the U.S.'s preparation. According to that report, the Cubans are 15x less likely to die from a hurricane than are Americans because Cubans have a very well organized preparedness system.

Anyway, there is some good stuff in the EB (as always), but this time specifically regarding the hurricanes.

Remember that hellacious drought Texas had? Their then governor Perry convened a multi-day massive pray-in asking for rain, but nothing happened. Well, it just did. God doesn't ignore those things, she is just kinda slow and casual in getting around to responding.

up

13 users have voted.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@Meteor Man
This disgusting point of view is something I encountered from a Republican from, I think, Iowa (though I may be misremembering--he was a Republican on Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee back in 2009, and he was from a Midwestern state that bordered the Mississippi). They were discussing climate-related coastal floading, and he said:

"Why should my taxpayers have to bear the cost of other people's coastal flooding? They're not on the coast."

And, bless him, Frank Lautenberg of NJ said:

"You might as well ask why our taxpayers should bear the cost of helping people in the Midwest when the Mississippi floods. It's like when I enlisted to fight in WWII. You don't say `What's in it for me?' You put your uniform on and go."

Now, I wouldn't apply that principle to wars generally, but I so appreciated his making the fundamental point about, well, basic morality.

Four Texas Senators:

I'm fixing to name them right now: Twit, Jerk, Idiot, and Damn Crook.

If you want their birth names, you have to trust someone else because they are all dead to me.

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
OK, I can't figure out who he was. I wonder if it was Inhofe...but he spent most of his time talking about building 100 nuclear power plants and how we needed not to restrain our country's ability to reproduce or we would fall behind China (I think we're already behind, no?) and talking about how he had 14 grandchildren.

#7 This disgusting point of view is something I encountered from a Republican from, I think, Iowa (though I may be misremembering--he was a Republican on Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee back in 2009, and he was from a Midwestern state that bordered the Mississippi). They were discussing climate-related coastal floading, and he said:

"Why should my taxpayers have to bear the cost of other people's coastal flooding? They're not on the coast."

And, bless him, Frank Lautenberg of NJ said:

"You might as well ask why our taxpayers should bear the cost of helping people in the Midwest when the Mississippi floods. It's like when I enlisted to fight in WWII. You don't say `What's in it for me?' You put your uniform on and go."

Now, I wouldn't apply that principle to wars generally, but I so appreciated his making the fundamental point about, well, basic morality.

up

7 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

how we needed not to restrain our country's ability to reproduce or we would fall behind China (I think we're already behind, no?) and talking about how he had 14 grandchildren.

Cat, he's advocating the very thing that got us into this hot water to begin with!

He wants us to have a population like that of China??!!??

Sounds like another example of:

only now Clevon has a seat in Congress!!

Yes, me worry!!

#7.1 OK, I can't figure out who he was. I wonder if it was Inhofe...but he spent most of his time talking about building 100 nuclear power plants and how we needed not to restrain our country's ability to reproduce or we would fall behind China (I think we're already behind, no?) and talking about how he had 14 grandchildren.

up

6 users have voted.

—

"Some members of the government are now investigating opioid pain killers but they are investigating the wrong thing. Despair-masking drugs are not the problem. Despair is."
-- featheredsprite

how we needed not to restrain our country's ability to reproduce or we would fall behind China (I think we're already behind, no?) and talking about how he had 14 grandchildren.

Cat, he's advocating the very thing that got us into this hot water to begin with!

He wants us to have a population like that of China??!!??

Sounds like another example of:

only now Clevon has a seat in Congress!!

Yes, me worry!!

up

4 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

how we needed not to restrain our country's ability to reproduce or we would fall behind China (I think we're already behind, no?) and talking about how he had 14 grandchildren.

Cat, he's advocating the very thing that got us into this hot water to begin with!

He wants us to have a population like that of China??!!??

Sounds like another example of:

only now Clevon has a seat in Congress!!

Yes, me worry!!

up

4 users have voted.

—

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant

#7 This disgusting point of view is something I encountered from a Republican from, I think, Iowa (though I may be misremembering--he was a Republican on Barbara Boxer's Environment and Public Works Committee back in 2009, and he was from a Midwestern state that bordered the Mississippi). They were discussing climate-related coastal floading, and he said:

"Why should my taxpayers have to bear the cost of other people's coastal flooding? They're not on the coast."

And, bless him, Frank Lautenberg of NJ said:

"You might as well ask why our taxpayers should bear the cost of helping people in the Midwest when the Mississippi floods. It's like when I enlisted to fight in WWII. You don't say `What's in it for me?' You put your uniform on and go."

Now, I wouldn't apply that principle to wars generally, but I so appreciated his making the fundamental point about, well, basic morality.

A couple of years ago I was going home to visit my sister, driving south from MSP on I35 . . . almost pulled over to barf when I saw the sign . . . "Welcome to Iowa! Home of Silos and Smokestacks!" WTF!!!

The library just got me a copy and I'm about halfway through. One hand the authors paint a clear picture of a candidate who is disengaged and allowing others to make decisions for her. Despite begging from her staff, Her never comes up with a definitive reason for why she's running. She has policies she supports, but is constantly relying on others to create a vision for her, all the while keeping the same people at arm's length. Needless to say, they fail.

And on the other hand, there's an attempt to paint her as some kind of victim, helpless against the actions of others, be they warring staff or Bernie or the media or whatever. I barely made it past the introduction because they list all the stock Clinton excuses and just accept them as givens. That's a tip of the author's hand right there. Throughout the book, it reads like all this stuff is just happening to Her and not Her fault, but you don't have to read between the lines to see that the commonality for just about everything that happens is Herself.

There's also a running undercurrent of "how could anyone question this woman's judgement and character?" while listing, and ignoring, all the examples of Her lapses of judgement and character. They act like Bernie was making all these wild, unsubstantiated claims about her, but they never refute what criticism he made. In fact, they even acknowledge that paid speeches and private email servers were a bad idea, they just won't connect the dots as to how Her complete cluelessness about these things are flaws. The authors seem to be as clueless about they issues people have with Her (or as willing to spin it as unfair basis from someone else) as Herself is.

And the authors accept the party line on Bernie (pie in the sky, no real differences, just in the race to disrupt, etc.) and write about him with only a little less contempt as the leaks coming out of Her new book. They just can't get why anyone would favor Sanders over Her. It's also funny how they either gloss over or severely downplay all the advantages Her was given during the primaries. I know the book isn't about Bernie or his campaign, but it seems incorrect to downplay what happened there as just some nuisance on the way to her coronation.

I know I haven't finished it yet (and I'm in too far to stop now,) but I don't think I'd recommend this one really. At best, it pretty much confirms what I suspected about Her campaign (she wasn't as micromanagy, but all the same lack of direction, chaos and confusion of 2008 occurred). But the author's attempts to paint Her as an underdog and a victim are a bit much. Ultimately, it's shaping up to be a very similar story: dozens of reasons why she lost, but not one reason why she should have won.

EDIT: For all the spin about how all the people around Her did her no favors, and they didn't, it just drives home the point that Her isn't that great of a leader. Between this book and Game Change, there's a constant and it's that Her values loyalty over putting together a team that works well together. Both books paint a picture of a campaign where everyone is looking out for themselves, reluctant to admit mistakes and trying to get as close to Her as they can and keep everyone else at bay. Time and time again, there's very little direction from Her and she barely seems to know what she wants or how to get there. Does this remind anyone else of a certain presidency we may be living under?

@Dr. John Carpenter
especially with Pied Piper Trump as the opponent. Funny how some people get surrounded by worshippers and get the gist wrong from that. We dodged a bullet there. And got a different caliber one instead. May we make it through some form of this administration. [much foot-shooting going on there.]

Or just throw up our hands and start a revolution.

The library just got me a copy and I'm about halfway through. One hand the authors paint a clear picture of a candidate who is disengaged and allowing others to make decisions for her. Despite begging from her staff, Her never comes up with a definitive reason for why she's running. She has policies she supports, but is constantly relying on others to create a vision for her, all the while keeping the same people at arm's length. Needless to say, they fail.

And on the other hand, there's an attempt to paint her as some kind of victim, helpless against the actions of others, be they warring staff or Bernie or the media or whatever. I barely made it past the introduction because they list all the stock Clinton excuses and just accept them as givens. That's a tip of the author's hand right there. Throughout the book, it reads like all this stuff is just happening to Her and not Her fault, but you don't have to read between the lines to see that the commonality for just about everything that happens is Herself.

There's also a running undercurrent of "how could anyone question this woman's judgement and character?" while listing, and ignoring, all the examples of Her lapses of judgement and character. They act like Bernie was making all these wild, unsubstantiated claims about her, but they never refute what criticism he made. In fact, they even acknowledge that paid speeches and private email servers were a bad idea, they just won't connect the dots as to how Her complete cluelessness about these things are flaws. The authors seem to be as clueless about they issues people have with Her (or as willing to spin it as unfair basis from someone else) as Herself is.

And the authors accept the party line on Bernie (pie in the sky, no real differences, just in the race to disrupt, etc.) and write about him with only a little less contempt as the leaks coming out of Her new book. They just can't get why anyone would favor Sanders over Her. It's also funny how they either gloss over or severely downplay all the advantages Her was given during the primaries. I know the book isn't about Bernie or his campaign, but it seems incorrect to downplay what happened there as just some nuisance on the way to her coronation.

I know I haven't finished it yet (and I'm in too far to stop now,) but I don't think I'd recommend this one really. At best, it pretty much confirms what I suspected about Her campaign (she wasn't as micromanagy, but all the same lack of direction, chaos and confusion of 2008 occurred). But the author's attempts to paint Her as an underdog and a victim are a bit much. Ultimately, it's shaping up to be a very similar story: dozens of reasons why she lost, but not one reason why she should have won.

EDIT: For all the spin about how all the people around Her did her no favors, and they didn't, it just drives home the point that Her isn't that great of a leader. Between this book and Game Change, there's a constant and it's that Her values loyalty over putting together a team that works well together. Both books paint a picture of a campaign where everyone is looking out for themselves, reluctant to admit mistakes and trying to get as close to Her as they can and keep everyone else at bay. Time and time again, there's very little direction from Her and she barely seems to know what she wants or how to get there. Does this remind anyone else of a certain presidency we may be living under?

up

10 users have voted.

—

Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Who does all the planning?/Who does all the work?/Who gets no vacation/Not one pay raise, not one perk?/Whose third-rate insurance comes without a dental plan?/Your average, humble squire/Not the meathead in the can.
--Galavant